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Age Of Spite
“It began with the reformation, or at least that was when it truly started. Perhaps I think this because I am an ' Elf, and we are inclined to look inwards for sources of change, but it cannot be denied that the Crusade and the Union were the first signs that ''' Aram and Caldania could exist together. And that Caldania could not survive alone.”'' – Regio Songleaf “The Empire wanted to eat the whole fucking world, and said they had papers that meant it was right and proper for them to do so. They had a good run at it, I guess, but they should have asked us what happens when you put enough hungry rats in a barrel together. That’s what got them, in the end. They got a taste for their own kind.” – Admiral Crowfoot “It was faith that felled the Caldan dynasty. Our faith. How could we support the Caldans with our flesh and our coin, when we had discovered true purpose in the Living Flame? Regio Sadiq, the first Fire Mother, saw that our god, as well as all others, were being smothered beneath the imperial divinity. With our faith did we seek freedom, and the Empire burned in that faith.” – Fire Mother Cuva “Another Empire, another Fall. You might as well argue over why rocks sink.” – Unknown Deep One 'The First Imperial War: A Summary Of Early Events' In the year 282 of the old Imperial Calendar, civil war erupted across the Caldanian Empire. In the north, the alliance of Regio Sadiq and Regio Viitala declared openly their hostility towards the Emperor’s control. They announced that they had the support of all three branches of the Caldanian government within their realms; the 'Consilium Mercator, the '''Officium Defensionem Commercia, and the Classis Cursori. With the backing of all three, they demanded that they be recognized as the Emperor’s equals within the Empire. It would be a bloodless transition to a new age, they boasted.'' Less than a day later, Regio Viitala was dead. He was found, what was left of him, spread across the gates of his fortress. Pinned to its center of this gory display was an imperial declaration of apostasy, dated two weeks prior in the Emperor’s hand. This pattern was repeated all across the north, as the Classis Cursori betrayed the betrayers and began a brutal campaign, named the 'Midnight Revolt', of murder and sabotage in support of the Caldan dynasty. Were it not for a chance discovery of the scheme by a rebel Coercitor, the rebellion might have been ended then and there by this assault. If there was ever to be a chance of a bloodless revolution, it died then. From that day until the death of the Empire as it was, almost all of Volansk and the Shahmoud were locked in war or standoff with Novotium and the southern provinces. Regio Sadiq herself vowed never to relent in her defiance after an attack during the Midnight Revolt very nearly claimed her life. In Old Aram, the news of the civil war was greeted with elation. Led by Magister Fernand Armadi, an emergent bloc of aggressive magisters voted to mobilize against the Empire. Within weeks, and led by Polemarchos Armadi, Aram’s first large-scale military excursion emerged from the city and swept away the Caldanian settlements on the north of their continent, including the fortifications at New Bruira. Bare days from that victory, Aram was felling the forests along their shores to build a new navy – one that could carry their armies east, to the mainland Empire. Within the Empire itself, Aramite Infernus agents, the espionage arm of the city-state, began to work in support of the rebel forces, lessening the Emperor’s stranglehold on intelligence supremacy. In doing so, these agents also drove a deeper wedge between the north and the south, with loyalist Imperials noting the aid of Aram as a sign of even deeper treason. On the seas, all semblance of trade or travel broke down. With blood in the water, and signs of the Empire faltering, 'The Grand Fleet' flocked to imperial shores in the thousands. Raiding season broke down into a frenzy of year-round piracy and predation, and with the imperial fleet already wearied by the Sootland conflict the resistance on the water soon collapsed entirely. Within a year the naval conquest of the Empire was so complete that the Fleetpack was able to form within the Bay of Storms for the first time in two hundred years. Only Novotium stood unscathed by the growing raids, but the hungry eyes of the Grand Fleet were fixed upon it for any sign of weakness. The Seabound would not be driven out of the Bay for a decade after the end of the First Imperial War. And not for long. The events of the First Imperial War were, compared to what was to come, almost orderly. Battle lines met, supply lines were raided. The province borders that had always existed became front lines as the Empire had always known them. The Officium, though distraught to be turned upon itself, endured and fought as loyalties and duty demanded. None of the wholesale chaos that The Fall would come to be known for had yet begun, but this was the opening note of that descent. This first Imperial War ended swiftly in the year 287 thanks to loyalist strategic supremacy, marked by the surrender of Dwen’Elar and the reclamation of most of Volansk into loyalist hands. The Shahmoud, having lived up to their reputation as fierce warriors, and armed with the power of mighty Flamesoul weapons that burst into lethal conflagrations, agreed to a ceasefire but not a surrender. If that had been the end of the civil violence in the Caldanian Empire, perhaps it might have survived. But these years of blood and struggle were the only first, violent crack in the image of imperial stability. Those that would come later were crueler, more costly, and ultimately stranger than anyone could have foreseen. '- Kellin Dagurth, Historian. Imperial University, Aram City. Year 113 of the New Count.' 'A Timeline of The Fall and the beginning of the Age of Spite' 282 AE * First Imperial War begins with the rebellions of Regio Sadiq and Viitala. * The Midnight Revolt takes place and many rebel leaders, including Regio Viitala, are assassinated. * Magister Armadi is named Polemarchos and tasked with defeating the Empire while it is weak. '283 AE' * All Caldanian presence is eliminated on Aram's continent. '284 AE' * The Aramite Magistrate is cancelled for a month and conservative Magisters disrupt all proceedings to argue against an attack on the Empire's mainland. '285 AE' * Seabound raiders capture Fort Marthiel; Caldania's primary base of operations in the Algor Expanse. The surviving defenders are permitted to flee to the mainland. '286 AE' * The Siege of Dwen’Elar begins, an unexpected move that served as the culmination of brilliant loyalist campaign led by Coercitor Directus Vanshi. Loyalists encircle the city, trapping extensive rebel forces within, and at the same time fortify their flank against any relief force. '287 AE' * Dwen’Elar surrenders, leading to Shahmoud agreeing to a ceasefire. The Coercitors of the rebel legions in the captured city are executed to the last. The Elven Greatblades, who defended the city in the siege, refuse to surrender and are not found inside the city when the victors enter. * The Capital Dwarf Fortress in Volansk, Dol Kurum, seals its doors after turning over the rebel Praes from within. The rebel Praes are taken for questioning by Cursors and not seen again. '288 AE' * Defying continued indecision from the magistry over an invasion of Caldania, Polemarchos Armadi takes the newly formed Aramite fleet to Sea Of Wolves with a massive migrant wave to bolster their population. The Caldanian attempt to answer in kind later in the year is intercepted by the Grand Fleet, with unfortunate loss of civilian life. '289 AE' * The Corvus Soar held on the Fleetpack is won by a flightless Sea of Wolves Corvus from Port Canis, inspiring uproar. Many Corvus relocate to Sea of Wolves with the victor. '291 AE' * The Emperor demands affirmations of loyalty from all provinces. Port Canis, in the Sea of Wolves, refuses to publicly declare a loyalist or rebel affiliation. * Polemarchos Armadi is refused access to Greenward Hold in Sea of Wolves by its Wardens. Declining to press the issue, he departs the Sea Of Wolves with all his military forces, bound for Caldania. '291 AE' * Aramite Invasion makes landfall on Caldania's western shore. Local forces surrender after the first display of Toch-Guild hellfire melts the outer walls of a provincial keep. * Whawhai plague of apocalyptic proportion appears south of Isle of Glass. Deep Ones from all factions abandon their posts to fight their ancient foe in a massive cross-continent migration named the ‘Pilgrim's Hunt’. '293 AE' * The Aramite invasion force making their way north are turned back by Coercitor Sublime D’gul of the Royal Veteran Legion at the Mountain of The Vines, using intelligence on Aramite tactics offered by a travelling Aramite citizen. Magister Armadi turns inland and lays siege to Wireport. '294 AE' * Emperor Roland Caldan Stephanus II perishes at the age of 52. His son, Emperor Hageman Caldan Vireneus I, is deified and confirmed by the senior Praes and Coercitor loyalists, at the age of 26. * Emperor Jhorae Viitala I is deified in Volansk, takes Dol Kurum as his seat. Second Imperial War begins. * Polemarchos Armadi recalled to Aram, calling off the siege of Wireport. '295 AE' * Regio Keffu Sadiq dies. Her successor, Karleah Saal, rejects title of Regio and declares the Shahmoud a sovereign nation. The Shahmoud rejects an alliance with Dvun’grinek. An Imperial envoy sent to negotiate an alliance with Saal is bombarded and slain with Flamesoul weapons. '296 AE' * Novotium defaults on loan repayments to Sorus. Soruddi King forgives debt, to wide public disapproval. * Silvara's college is declared illegitimate in a narrow vote by the mainland educational authority, however dozens of students from all levels of Aram's society still emigrate to the colony for access to the institution each year, drawn by the growing resources there. '297 AE' * Port Canis Praes Finnibus Lorelei perishes of old age. Imperial efforts from both Emperors to name her successor are discarded in favor of a local appointee thanks to her cunning manipulation of her will. '299 AE' * Second Imperial War ends after little open warfare between rival emperors, but extensive pillaging and destruction of farmland. Volansk is entirely within Viitala's hands after a series of military maneuvers force out the loyalist armies. * News of the mystical site 'Greenward Hold' in the Sea of Wolves reaches Dwen’Elar, along with rumors of newborn Ents dwelling there. Fringe ‘Wirethi preachers begin speaking of the need for a mass migration to be with the Ents. '300 AE' * The loyalist Consilium Mercator cannot pay the wages of the Caldan ODC for the first time since the Empire’s founding. A widespread citizen effort raises the funds to feed and house the soldiery for several months until the Empire finds the coin. '301 AE' * After several Corvus soars occur in the Sea of Wolves which include the wingless population, a prominent Corvus elder and singer passes on, and the population of the southern Sea falls to squabbling. A major point of contention is control of ‘an island that soars’; believed to be a reference to a Corvus spiritual site. '307 AE' * The Fleetpack remains joined for an extra month as open talk of reclaiming their ancient lands from Caldania leads to violence. Admiral Bloodfern, in support of the idea, slays Admiral Pumicestone in single combat. The fleet disperses to build new ships suited to all-out war. '308 AE' * Regio Garcia Sagarra perishes in an alchemical accident. Novotium names Paulo Forestra Regio and assigns him Paledo as his seat. '310 AE' * The ‘Pilgrim's Hunt’ of the Deep Ones declares the Whawhai threat at the Isles of Glass to be finally eradicated. Less than a tenth of the Deep Ones who joined the war have survived, devastating the worldwide population of their species. A prominent war hero from the Hunt, Gheridicus, declares himself a Regio and proclaims the Isles free from Imperial control. * Emperor Viitala reforms his military, abolishing the ODC in favor of a new entity named the Volansk Imperial Army, offering his Coercitors land and wealth to transition to new roles. '311 AE' * An untimely drought strikes the Hjetterik Highlands for the fourth consecutive year. Farmers flee in droves into overburdened midland provinces. '312 AE' * After more than a decade of disagreements in the Sea of Wolves, violence erupts among the Corvus occupying Port Asarim. An item of major cultural significance and suspected magical power is destroyed in the struggle, coinciding with the start of the ‘Ill Wind’, the mysterious metamorphosis of the Corvus from their ancient form to the modern, more animalistic one. '313 AE' * Polemarchos Armadi refuses to return Polemarchos powers to Magistry. Public support is in his favor, and he departs once again for Caldania with the armies of Aram. He arrives late in the year and takes the fortress of Wireport, settling in as de-facto lord of that region. '314 AE' * The Crusade. Backed by a rising tide of religious fervor, Dwen’elar is near-emptied as most of the faithful elven populace embarks on a journey to the Sea of Wolves to be with the Ents there. Elves from across the Empire join them as they travel south. Passage is secured with the Seabound for a staggering sum – the weight of every Elf in silver – Volansk reels from the loss of the elven population. '315 AE' * Floods along the Trest river near Tousillions destroy several old towns. The growing crisis of displacement in Caldania leads to a migration west. '316 AE' * Sorus’ new king refuses to commit its armies to the Imperial cause, citing ‘a betrayal of our trust’. The Emperor declares them to be in default. * The Aramite Magistry is assaulted by a series of riots that demand their deadlocked politicians stop the Caldanian Crusade of the elves. Elven spiritual leaders of Aram lead the faithful to commandeer the navy ships at port, and depart for the Sea of Wolves. Both groups of elves reach the Sea late in this year, overwhelming the cities of Port Canis and Silvara. '317 AE' * Emperor Viitala invades Novotium territory. Third Imperial War begins. * The Dwen'Elar Crusade in the Sea of Wolves moves for Greenward Hold, having spent the year crafting rough vessels to cross the final distance. They are met by Aramite elven faithful at the shores of Greenward Isle, and violence erupts until the Ent Itho’Enira appears to call for peace and the Dwen’elar elves are allowed ashore. '318 AE' * Many Caldanian states on the western coast demand a regency for their local leaders. The heartland is forced to acquiesce, leading to the event known as the 'Rain of Crowns', which sparks a fifty-year series of minor border wars between the new rulers. Polemarchos Armadi demands and receives tribute from the regions around Wireport. '319 AE' * The Swansong. The ODC, backed by shrewd Consilum logistical maneuvering, win a stunning, colossal victory over the numerically superior, better equipped Volansk Imperial Army in the hills north of Novotium. Though the loyalists will achieve other victories, this moment is remembered in popular memory as the last shining glory of the Caldanian Empire. * Two days after the Swansong, Admiral Bloodfern assaults Novotium with the largest Grand Fleet raiding party ever assembled. Novotium’s armies are too far away to respond. The Emperor offers his surrender personally and pleads for his people’s safety. He is killed, and the city sacked and occupied. His successor, Filus Caldan Merrinus I, is deified within a fortified holdfast. '320 AE' * Magistrate Endal of Silvara is exiled for necromancy, but declares himself to be free of mortal concern claiming to have 'defeated death'. His work is destroyed, and records of him cease shortly afterwards, up until the modern era. * The Grand Fleet in Novotium turns to infighting over how to handle their captured territory. Much of the fleet disperses to invade other areas they have identified as their personal homeland. The Seabound, now being those of the faction that do not wish to return to live the land, depart for open water. '321 AE' * Loyalist ODC forces drive the last remnants of the Seabound raiding party from Novotium. '322 AE' * Polemarchos Armadi returns to Aram, and rescinds the title of Polemarchos, but appoints a known associate as the Polemarchos to succeed him. This is not a legal appointment, but the paralyzed political system of Aram does not defy it. '323 AE' * Lord Admiral Drexel, a renegade pirate of the Sea of Wolves, assaults Greenward Hold with a sizeable army, intent on capturing and enslaving the massive elven overpopulation there (the records refer this enslavement as ‘raising’, and claim his army was composed of the undead. Scholars at the time dismiss these claims). The Warden guards are initially overwhelmed until 189 Caldanian refugees reveal themselves to be the last of the Elven Greatblades, in hiding since the surrender of Dwen'Elar. Drexel is put to rout and slain with his army, though the Greatblades are reduced to five surviving members, who join the Wardens. '325 AE' * The Fleetpack cannot form fully due to massive overloading by ill-equipped refugee vessels from the mainland wars and the loss of crew and vessels to the reclamation efforts in Caldania. It will only manage to re-form fully three more times, in 329, 343, and 344. '328 AE' * The Miracle of the Living Flame. Karleah Saal is reborn in fire before a congregation of thousands after a Cursor blade finds her heart. The first references to ‘Fire Mother’ are recorded. * Scholars in the Empire, and shortly afterward in Aram, begin to write of ‘The Arcane’ and its prevalence in the Sea of Wolves, as demonstrated by many events over the past half-century. War breaks out between the Shahmoud and the new 'Rain of Crowns' nations on its southern border, who cannot withstand its Flamesoul artillery. '332 AE' * Admiral Bloodfern is killed in an accident during a drunken argument with an infamous and formerly disgraced fleet captain. The core raiding fleet of the Seabound scatters under dozens of rival captains. '333 AE' * An Imperial fleet, bolstered by forces from Sootland, arrives at Port Canis to demand assistance securing magics such as the Shahmoudi possess for their Flamesoul weapons. When Port Canis refuses, they attempt to lay siege to the city. They are forced to abandon the landing when a towering wall of ice surges forth from the island, named by the locals as 'Lorelei's Bargain'. It does not recede until they turn back. '325 AE' * The Elves at Greenward Hold announce a reformation of their faith. After many talks, and encouraged by Itho’Enira, the ‘Wirethi faith begins the process of reintegration with an exchange of masks. Itho’Enira departs for Aram with the Dwen’elar leadership, seeking to reconcile with the Aramite orthodoxy. Most of the faithful follow, unwilling to be parted from the Ent. '337 AE' * The Imperial fleet turned back from Port Canis lays siege to the fortress of Kryomos. Led by Coercitor Sublime Dorwine, the defending garrison there turns back the attackers for four weeks despite numbering under two dozen. When a joint relief force from Silvara and Port Canis catches the besigers unaware, they are forced to negotiate a truce and accept a concessional gift of a single, unknown arcane weapon. It is believed this is the relic used later in 358. '338 AE' * The nation of Waverest is formed on the southern edge of the Bay of Storms out of territory conquered by the former Seabound invaders. Its government is initially made up of landholding captains formed into a ruling council, but internal division is frequent. '342 AE' * Itho’Enira is assassinated by a warpack of Saliri hunters at a summit of the two nations' Elven religious leadership. Thought triumphant, the assassins are immediately torn apart with bare hands by the distraught elven elders. The names of the Saliri are forbidden to note in record, on pain of excoriation. This edict was one of the first issued by the joint 'Wirethi council, formed later that week in Aram in an event known as 'The Union'. '345 AE' * Word of a miraculous creature 'Hatching' in Port Canis reaches the mainland. The Praes of the city tightly controls any news about this creature, and wild rumours swirl of it being a dragon, some manner of small, bipedal lizard creature, or most outlandish; A swan. '348 AE' * Fire Mother Saal declares the Shahmoud to be a theocracy under the 'Living Flame'. Miracles involving fire are documented throughout the region, and converts are numerous. The region's nomad elves retreat further into the waste where their affinity protects them, refusing to accept a new supreme deity so soon after casting off the Emperor. '350 AE' * A Caldanian invasion of Sorus, led by the Paledo, begins and is shattered in this year when the remaining Soruddi legions across the Empire proclaim their duty fulfilled and return home to defeat their former comrades. The war ends with few casualties and the release of prisoners owing to goodwill between the armies. The old Soruddi king, Gareudd ap Gwllin, declares that this mercy will not be repeated in the future. '353 AE' * Magister Armadi, after decades of encouraging the issues in the Aram Magistry, reclaims the title of Polemarchos and elevates the position to the head of Aram's polity, to whom all owe fealty. He also claims the Caldanian title of Regio and the lands around Wireport as his own. The Magistry is too dysfunctional and unpopular to resist, and concedes to his demands. '354 AE' * A Consilium edict known as 'Taftan's Reply' sees the growing population of Caldanian homeless in the west transported to Aram for care by Armadi, their new Regio. Famously, the first letters of every line on the edict spell the phrase 'Caveat Emptor'. '357 AE' * Volansk Imperial Army crosses into Novotium once again, declaring war. The Caldan ODC, underpaid for years, refuses to oppose them. Many older Coercitors, especially from the longer-lived species, demand to be symbolically wounded before they surrender. The Officium Commercia Defensionem is disbanded on the mainland. The organization now only exists under Coercitor Directus Dorwine of Port Canis, who declares herself Coercitor Maximus in the winter of this year. '358 AE' * Emperor Filus Caldan Merrinus I unveils a shard of living arcane ice in the capital, declaring it to be a weapon of salvation originating from the Sea of Wolves. Accounts of what exactly transpired next are non-existent, as shortly after this Novotium was consumed in a lethal blizzard, slaying almost all within. Volansk, already in the grip of a fierce winter, is consumed by 'The Spite', a growing storm of ice that forces the residents into the dwarven realms below. The Spite never abates, and grows slowly in all directions, save for towards the Shahmoud, who declare the Living Flame to be superior. No trace of the weapon used is found. * With the loss of Novotium, the Consilium Mercator falls into disarray. This is recorded in histories as culmination of The Fall. The Caldanian Empire is generally noted to cease to exist at this time, at least as the entity which it had been for the previous centuries. * The ring-storm around the Sea of Wolves erupts into its old ferocity once more. No vessels that attempt to cross are ever seen again, and none have emerged since. The Elves of the Union, seperated from Greenward Hold, declare this 'Second Loss' to be a punishment for the loss of Itho’Enira, and many renew their masks. The Sea of Wolves is officially agreed upon by the Union as the site of Al'Mina, though the move is contentious. Saliri practice is outlawed. '360 AE' * Polemarchos Fernand Armadi is slain and deposed, after several years of increasingly brutal and unpopular rule notably involving the abuse of Caldanian refugees and elven pilgrims, among other crimes and rumored atrocities. After eagerly consenting to participate, he is slain in single combat by Magister Zafir Songleaf upon her return to the city. Magister Songleaf declares afterward that the two peoples within the city must find a balance between Aramite isolation and Caldanian expansion. She does not revert the new role of Polemarchos and, using political contacts she had built in the preceding years, assumes that title along with Armadi's Regency, declaring that 'To go backwards would disgrace the legacy of those who brought us here.' '361 AE' * First official reports of the 'Ill Wind' phenomenon affecting newly born Corvus, although an analysis of contemporary documents reveals that the effect had been present for several generations. Newly born Corvus are always bestial of features, none are born as the 'harpies' of the past, and their abilities of flight had begun to decline. '363 AE' * The dead walk in Waverest. The settled pirates are able to defeat the risen, and the veterans of the Sea of Wolves warn them to light their city well. The rising dead phenomenon spreads slowly north across the continent. '365 AE' * Fire Mother Altea declares the plague of dead to be a judgement on those who defy the Living Flame. Refugees from The Spite and the walking dead had been flocking to the Shahmoud for years, but now they are invited and accepted as converts. The new arrivals are branded with the mark of the Living Flame. '367 AE' * The Seabound fleetpack attempts to form but cannot due a lack of vessels. It is never attempted again as far as we know. Cannonsage Katherine leads the remnants of the 'true' Seabound east, beyond the known world. '370 AE' * The Classis Observus is established in the West Caldanian Empire (A name taken by several competing states in the region, this one known externally as the Vigil Regency). Its purpose is to study The Spite and attempt to halt its growth. The organization gains support from the Consilium remnants and scholars in neighboring states, quickly becoming something of a neutral party in the wars of the region. '371 AE' * The Aramite Empire (at this time not formally declared an empire) announces that the dead have begun to rise on their lands. 'New' Bruira, refounded as part of the colonization efforts of the nation, is destroyed a third time by the risen when the city refuses to enact the Regio's Lighting Standards Act, complaining of the cost in coal. '374 AE' * The Deep Ones of the Isle of Glass begun to suffer wracking spasms. The apothecaries of the Isles claim that the affected are reciting from commonly held ancestral memories, but including details that were previously forgotten. Whawhai emerge from the abyss seek out and attack Deep Ones near the Isles, not bothering to feed or flock. This is unprecedented. '376 AE' * New Dwarf fortresses emerge north of Hjetterik, occupied by the populations who had previously retreated beneath Volansk to escape The Spite. Fire Mother Altea demands the fealty of these new residents, but they refuse based on their claims to the primary divinity of their own Emperor. They are declared enemies of the Living Flame. This concludes this summary of the events of The Fall and the formation of the modern age. The events highlighted were chosen for their relevance to the overall procession of events or for their interesting detail. This record concludes with all the major players of the Age Of Spite having reached the positions that they are associated with geographically, and most of the initial political reforms. Excluded items such as the Second Empire, the Hautalan Trade Consortium and other events of note were left out because they did not serve to inform the details pertinent to our current situation, not because they are not of interest or historical relevance. Please see other, more detailed histories, for more information. '- Khel Alesandros, Classis Observus, 473' Category:BW World 2 Category:Historical Events